Receiving a telephone call from a debt collector is not a pleasant experience. Being hounded by someone attempting to collect a debt you do not owe constitutes fraud. In recent years the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has taken action against a number of these Phantom debt collection agencies. These scammers used false claims and threats to compel people to pay debts which were largely either non-existent or which the defendants had no authority to collect. They also violated federal law by illegally failing to provide proper notices and disclaimers also required by federal law.
TIPS
Subject to strict federal laws, legitimate debt collectors are permitted to call debtors, however, the law prohibits them from threatening imprisonment for the failure to pay a debt and attempting to collect a debt that the debt collector knows is bogus. The law also prohibits debt collectors from communicating information about a debt to the consumer’s employer although they can contact the employer merely to obtain contact information about the employee
It can be difficult to know when someone calls attempting to collect a debt if indeed they are legitimate or not, so the best course of action if you receive such a call is to not discuss the debt with the person calling, but instead demand that they send you a written “validation notice” by regular mail which describes the debt they allege you owe and includes a listing of your rights under the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
Never give personal information over the phone to anyone who calls you attempting to collect a debt. You can never be sure who they are. If you receive the validation notice and it appears to be legitimate, you may be better off contacting your creditor directly because the person who called you may not be representing the creditor, but may merely have information about the debt.
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What do Steven Spielberg, Kevin Bacon, and John Malkovich have in common? In addition to being famous entertainers, they are also scam victims. Anyone can be a scam victim. Scammers have a knowledge of psychology that Freud would have envied, and they know how to manipulate us into becoming victims of scams. Phone calls, emails, and text messages are favorite methods scammers use to contact their victims, and it can be all but impossible to know who is really contacting you. Through a technique called “spoofing,” they can make their call or text message appear to come from anyone they wish. So, how can individuals help proactively avoid becoming a scam victim? The answer is ScamAssist® from Iris® Powered by Generali. Anytime a ScamAssist customer gets an email, text message, or phone call luring them into providing personal information or making a payment, all they have to do is use ScamAssist to learn whether the communication is likely to be a scam. While Iris® Powered by Generali doesn’t offer ScamAssist for direct purchase, if you’re a business professional looking to fill a product gap in your portfolio and want to provide customers a service they’ll truly value, contact Iris to learn how you can get started. Join a growing list of companies – such as major retailers like Staples – that have offered ScamAssist bundled with other core offerings to help differentiate themselves in the market and provide their customers with a tool they will truly utilize.
